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MINNESOTA SPORTS ROUND-UP: Prep Bowl begins today

Three state high school football champions return to defend their 2012 titles - Eden Prairie in Class 6A, Hutchinson in Class 4A and Mahnomen in Class 1A. The action begins at 10 a-m today as Underwood plays Grand Meadow for the Nine-Man championship. The Class 2A title game at 1pm features Minneota/Lincoln HI vs. Chatfield. Defending 4A champion Hutchinson takes on Richfield Holy Angels at 4 this afternoon, and two-time state champs Eden Prairie face Rosemount in the 6A championship tonight at 7.

Here is this week's schedule of championship games at the 2013 Minnesota High School State Football Tournament (all games at the Metrodome):

Nine-Man (Friday): Underwood vs. Grand Meadow, 10am

Class 2A (Friday): Minneota/Lincoln HI vs Chatfield 1pm

Class 4A (Friday): *Hutchinson vs Holy Angels 4pm

Class 6A (Friday): *Eden Prairie vs. Rosemount 7pm

Class 1A (Saturday): Dawson-Boyd vs *Mahnomen 10 am

Class 3A (Saturday): St Croix Lutheran vs New London-Spicer 1pm

Class 5A (Saturday): Brainerd vs Owatonna 4pm

(* indicates defending state champion)

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The MInnesota Vikings are gearing up for Sunday's divisional matchup with the Bears at the Metrodome. Chicago head coach Marc Trestmann announced this week that back-up quarterback Josh McCown will get the start at Minnesota. The St.Louis Park, Minnesota native also had high praise for Vikings Al-Pro Adrian Peterson. He says AP is one of the best running backs in the NFL over the past 50 years. Trestmann says Peterson's will, determination, effort and things that go beyond his ability are what really stand out to him. The Vikes played to a 26-26 tie with the Packers last Sunday at Lambeau Field.

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The Minnesota Wild open a home-and-home series with the Avalanche late this afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center in St.Paul. The teams will meet up again tomorrow night in Denver (Sat8pm). Minnesota looks to end a two-game losing streak and is tied in the standings with Colorado at 34 points apiece. The Wild placed forward Mikael Granlund on injured reserve with a lower body injury and called up winger Jason Zucker from Iowa for tonight's game.

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The top-ranked Universty of Minnesota men's hockey team hosts Wisconsin this weekend in their first-ever Big Ten series matchup. Both longtime rivals left the WCHA to join the new college hockey conference. The 9-2-1 Gophers split a two-game series with Minnesota-Duluth last Friday and Sunday while the 4-3-1 Badgers had the weekend off. The game one faceoff is set for 4pm today and the series finale is on Saturday night.

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The University of Minnesota women's basketball team opens holiday tournament play in Honolulu, Hawaii tonight against Chattanooga. Minnesota is 5-1 with its lone loss coming November 16th at Creighton. Chattanooga has a 4-1 record in non-conference action. The Gophers play Colorado State Saturday afternoon and host Hawaii on Sunday night. Minnesota center Amanda Zahui B. was named Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Week after averaging 13.5 points, 12 rebounds, six blocks and three steals in wins over Navy and Kansas.